unclevlad

What the recent Congressional vote on interim government funding really says about Trump's influence with the GOP (short video):
 
 
One of Beau's lines is meme-worthy: "The Republican Party, they're the party of family values. Sure, if you're talking about the Sopranos."

If you want to impose a penalty, then how about...
 
If my spellcasting does not require a skill roll, then it's at 18- *regardless* of active points...or, if you prefer, my skill rating is such that my net skill roll is 18- even when using my largest active point cost spell.  So if that's, say, 75 points, my skill roll is 25-.
 
That becomes a common basis for a CE imposing skill roll penalties, and lets me cast a 40 point spell despite fairly heavy interference that might shut down a 70 point spell.  The apprentice is gonna be SOL.

And another angle to Doc's post, they're powers that clearly mark you as Not Normal.  You can't exactly walk down the street with a chitinous exoskeleton without drawing significant attention.

And another angle to Doc's post, they're powers that clearly mark you as Not Normal.  You can't exactly walk down the street with a chitinous exoskeleton without drawing significant attention.

Oh, Nikki, what a pity, you don't understand...........
 
 
It's Trump being Trump.  Challenge him, get mocked and attacked.  
 
I like Bolo's line, but I thin the better response is to ignore it altogether...and should the Trump campaign say something, say something like "oh yeah, we got something like that from him.  We gave it to a zoo and forgot all about it."

If you should go skating
On the thin ice of modern life
Dragging behind you the silent reproach
Of a million tear-stained eyes
Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice
Appears under your feet.
You slip out of your depth and out of your mind
With your fear flowing out behind you
As you claw the thin ice.

Hmm.  10 DCs (so 8d6 with AP).  Let's go with 20 Con and 25 defense.
 
Normal attack averages 35, target takes 10.  From target's perspective, stunned about 3% of the time.  
AP averages 28, versus 13 defense, so target takes 15.  Needs 34 STUN rolled to stun the target...that's 18%.
 
Hmm.  12 DCs...which means 9 AP, I suspect, for most.  I hate half dice for normal damage.  23 CON, 30 defense.
Normal attack averages 12 past defenses, and stunned also around 3%.
AP averages 31 vs. 15, so...16 past defenses.  Need 40 to stun...about 6%.  And this is with a slightly lower DC rating overall.
 
So he's got a point.  Even if you go with higher defenses, halving that defense is huge.  The better you are...the more effective the AP is.  
 
If you're concerned about this, then you want to look at *some* of your defense being hardened.  Particularly at higher levels.
 
Note that I'm considering only AP normal.  AP killing...I have a principle.  Killing attacks are just that...deadly.  AP killing attacks are *lethal.*  Someone using something that looks like an AP killing attack becomes a High Priority Threat, if a villain, and more severe counters are acceptable.  A hero should almost never use an AP killing attack, IMO...not against even typical supervillains.  Yeah, I strongly prefer that heroes try hard not to kill, if there's any choice.  
 
EDIT:  another aspect.  If a normal-damage attack with AP is gonna do BODY, generally, it won't be much.  That's good...make the PCs sweat.  But an AP Killing attack risks potentially doing a LOT of BODY...the variance is just that high.  That might be more than sweating....

I think you've misinterpreted my post.
 
My reasons for the pricing AP and Penetrating differently have nothing do with frequency of use. Penetrating KA's are better at consistently doing BODY damage. They break Barriers better and ignore the DEF an entangled target gets from Entangle. That's why I agreed with Christopher R Taylor it should have one price for normal damage and a greater price for killing.
 
My only mention of frequency was to the defenses for these powers and how it related to their different costs.

Not theoretical.  Coverage maps here:
 
https://fansided.com/posts/nfl-coverage-map-week-4-tv-schedule-2023
 
Looks like I escape, getting Miami-Buffalo.  
 
There's no escape for the late game, tho.  Pats at Dallas...Dallas is -6.5.  If it's that close, Cowboy fans should be worried.  But the other?  Cards at Niners.  Line...Niners -14.  Been a while since I've seen a line that big.
 
It's also the last day of the MLB regular season.  It may not matter, but there's also a very good chance that there will be playoff berths on the line.  

Actually, it's a short read.  The first 2 paragraphs:
 
 
I mean, they try SO HARD to suppress voting rights, then this stupid singer-chick disrupts their plans???  HOW DARE SHE?  DOES SHE KNOW WHO WE ARE??????

Actually, it's a short read.  The first 2 paragraphs:
 
 
I mean, they try SO HARD to suppress voting rights, then this stupid singer-chick disrupts their plans???  HOW DARE SHE?  DOES SHE KNOW WHO WE ARE??????

Actually, it's a short read.  The first 2 paragraphs:
 
 
I mean, they try SO HARD to suppress voting rights, then this stupid singer-chick disrupts their plans???  HOW DARE SHE?  DOES SHE KNOW WHO WE ARE??????

Actually, it's a short read.  The first 2 paragraphs:
 
 
I mean, they try SO HARD to suppress voting rights, then this stupid singer-chick disrupts their plans???  HOW DARE SHE?  DOES SHE KNOW WHO WE ARE??????

Not when one is looking at broader implications, or when removing the "additional benefit" makes no sense from another perspective.  Or, it creates a severe dissonance within the rules.  Giving "something for nothing" may be the best possible of a number of flawed options.
 
Balance is important...but so is (relative) simplicity and consistency.  So is flexibility.  
 
Another point:  the core approach to the system is that basic power concepts have tuning knobs called adders, advantages, and limitations.  These have complex interactions that destroy any possible notion that every path to a given effect is going to have the same cost for the same benefits.  It cannot be the case.  20 points with a +1/2 advantage and -1 limitation is not the same as 30 points with a -1/2 limitation, even when the advantage and other -1/2 of the limitation create effectively identical powers.  Note that this is exacerbated by the computational methods Hero uses (especially multi-stage rounding and very coarse granularity)...but it'll hold true no matter what.  The issues will shift, not disappear.
 
The points about the rounding and granularity also bring up a fundamental aspect:  this has to be usable by people.  In computer gaming, what we call OCV can be *extremely* messy.  This is how Base Attack Rating is derived, from Wizardry 8:

BAR SINGLE WEAPON = Floor( Floor(( CC_RC + 2 * WPN ) / 3 ) * 2 + Floor(DEX/2) + SUM(ProfessionLvLUpMul * Lvl) ) / 3) + 60
 
CC/RC are close or ranged combat generally;  WPN is your skill with a particular weapon class (sword, axe, etc.)  The ProfessionLvlUp is based on your character class, it's the broad measure about how good that class is.
 
Oh, and CC/RC and WPN improve dynamically in Wiz 8, so you can't simply sit down and grind out the numbers in advance of a session.  
 
So we can't readily, for example, switch to advantages or limitations measured in tenths, and carry over all the fractional values, rounding only at the end.  Many people don't like math, and don't do well at it.  Hero's approach opens up some notorious loopholes...END breakpoints is a big one...but it's mostly manageable, with relatively minimal assistance.  We get used to the common levels...1/4, 1/2, 1 advantage or limit, those are easy.  +0.3, +0.7, -0.4...it's not any harder but we won't see any specific ones enough to make them reflexive.  

Not when one is looking at broader implications, or when removing the "additional benefit" makes no sense from another perspective.  Or, it creates a severe dissonance within the rules.  Giving "something for nothing" may be the best possible of a number of flawed options.
 
Balance is important...but so is (relative) simplicity and consistency.  So is flexibility.  
 
Another point:  the core approach to the system is that basic power concepts have tuning knobs called adders, advantages, and limitations.  These have complex interactions that destroy any possible notion that every path to a given effect is going to have the same cost for the same benefits.  It cannot be the case.  20 points with a +1/2 advantage and -1 limitation is not the same as 30 points with a -1/2 limitation, even when the advantage and other -1/2 of the limitation create effectively identical powers.  Note that this is exacerbated by the computational methods Hero uses (especially multi-stage rounding and very coarse granularity)...but it'll hold true no matter what.  The issues will shift, not disappear.
 
The points about the rounding and granularity also bring up a fundamental aspect:  this has to be usable by people.  In computer gaming, what we call OCV can be *extremely* messy.  This is how Base Attack Rating is derived, from Wizardry 8:

BAR SINGLE WEAPON = Floor( Floor(( CC_RC + 2 * WPN ) / 3 ) * 2 + Floor(DEX/2) + SUM(ProfessionLvLUpMul * Lvl) ) / 3) + 60
 
CC/RC are close or ranged combat generally;  WPN is your skill with a particular weapon class (sword, axe, etc.)  The ProfessionLvlUp is based on your character class, it's the broad measure about how good that class is.
 
Oh, and CC/RC and WPN improve dynamically in Wiz 8, so you can't simply sit down and grind out the numbers in advance of a session.  
 
So we can't readily, for example, switch to advantages or limitations measured in tenths, and carry over all the fractional values, rounding only at the end.  Many people don't like math, and don't do well at it.  Hero's approach opens up some notorious loopholes...END breakpoints is a big one...but it's mostly manageable, with relatively minimal assistance.  We get used to the common levels...1/4, 1/2, 1 advantage or limit, those are easy.  +0.3, +0.7, -0.4...it's not any harder but we won't see any specific ones enough to make them reflexive.  

And in sports, Brooks Robinson, frequently considered the greatest 3rd baseman of all time, passed away today at 86.  16...count them, 16!! Gold Gloves.  Most by any position player ever.

And in sports, Brooks Robinson, frequently considered the greatest 3rd baseman of all time, passed away today at 86.  16...count them, 16!! Gold Gloves.  Most by any position player ever.

It's a matter of how one considers things.  None of these are rules, they're purely options because there are (almost) no rules, only exceptions.  And you don't need all of them to make a character;  you need all of them to build the character *you want*.  Those are massively different.
 
From another perspective...why do you need a book to hand you the spells?  Why not construct them using the existing spells as models?  You *can* extract some general principles to use, if you've got an analytical bent.  Yeah, unfortunately, they're obscured and confused by the numerous cases where they fail, but it can be done.  Of course, I had...however many years on 3E and 3.5 boards doing this, so I may have a bit of a head start.....
 
 And the classes?  Mostly they're just like SFX on Hero powers...nothing more.  Most of em, done badly...but the core classes are badly constructed, so I suppose it's not a surprise.  I'm speaking *overall*...not necessarily everything individually.  
 
But to take this back to Hero...the massive difference is you *can* build a perfectly good character with nothing but the PF PH, and you'll know how to play.  Worst problem can be spells selection...because low level casters are so terribly nerfed.  Hero?  You have 6 hours of reading to do.  The mechanics are scattered over two HUGE, badly laid-out books.  5E is nominally shorter, but not any better for finding some rules.  The options can easily be dizzying...and there's no real assistance, as we've talked about.  

Calloo, callay, o frabjous day!!!
 
The Yankees have been eliminated.  MLB doesn't say so, but they don't project.  The series that matters now is Astros-Mariners, who play 3.  Astros win one, OR Mariners win 2...Yankees are out.  One of those must happen.
 
Lovely day indeed.  

POTENTIALLY slanderous?  He called Milley a deviant and a traitor.  There's nothing "potential" about that.
 
The other aspect is, well, gee, when actual government officials call for hangings, can anyone be surprised when this causes a rise in violent acts from those he's addressing?  The "in a better society" isn't an excuse;  quite the opposite, it's more incitement.  
 
This is hate speech, pure and simple.  It's prima facie grounds for impeachment, slander/defamation, and even criminal charges, IMO.  Yeah, I know, only the lawsuit is possible, and even that's not likely, but that reflects the horrific state of the political system.
 
I agree this continues the alienation of any but the hardest of hard-core MAGAts, but we won't know whether this means anything until the election cycles start moving into full swing.

I was rebuilding a notional character...HTH fighter, with teleport for his movement...using some expansions I'm playing with.
 
What I finally noticed?
 
Teleport adder:  No Relative Velocity.  6E1, p. 302:
 
 
BINGO!  Throw in a custom limitation to tailor it to falling only, and you're good.  Not complicated.  No distortion of the rules, just a pretty normal need to define a situational limitation.  It's easy to apply, unlike things like "flight only to slow down from falling" that suggest the fall takes far longer...you stop on a dime.  If you don't want there to be a short *blink* to say you teleport?  Fine, that's SFX.

Better.  Loser joins the Pac-2 next season...
 
Oh my.
https://www.denverpost.com/2023/09/24/broncos-four-downs-sean-payton-worst-coaching-job/
 
You can't exactly call it hyperbole, given the game stats.  No more than mild exaggeration at most.
 
New definition of horrific, inhuman punishment.
The defense is gonna have to look at that game tape tomorrow.....

POTENTIALLY slanderous?  He called Milley a deviant and a traitor.  There's nothing "potential" about that.
 
The other aspect is, well, gee, when actual government officials call for hangings, can anyone be surprised when this causes a rise in violent acts from those he's addressing?  The "in a better society" isn't an excuse;  quite the opposite, it's more incitement.  
 
This is hate speech, pure and simple.  It's prima facie grounds for impeachment, slander/defamation, and even criminal charges, IMO.  Yeah, I know, only the lawsuit is possible, and even that's not likely, but that reflects the horrific state of the political system.
 
I agree this continues the alienation of any but the hardest of hard-core MAGAts, but we won't know whether this means anything until the election cycles start moving into full swing.

Because I don't have to invent anything .  No Relative Velocity is well defined.  I suspect it's pretty cheap for a few reasons...it's not common, and as a 10 point adder, its cost relative to a baseline teleport is frequently high.  As an adder, it's more expensive than an advantage, because it becomes part of the adjusted base cost, when applying advantages.  
 
The point you consistently miss is what the limits of "safe environment" should be.  You go "well no one's ever gonna be expected to fly through a star" and then use that totally circular argument to say that it should be cheap to do so.  No one even considers passing through a star in any sane, even gaming, context, because we realize the defenses you need are literally astronomical.  You cite characters...but how many of them are have insane defenses or something seriously special to let them?  Those characters DON'T HAVE POINTS...so if we want them to have 200/200 rDEF and 75% DR, FINE.  You even concede that lava is OUT...but the sun's heat is MUCH, MUCH higher, and you allow that.  Lava's only out because it's explicit?  How about examining WHY it's out, and using that to define what "safe environment" means *in game terms*?  I'm not demanding real-world science, I'm using it in conjunction with the rules language to understand how to properly apply the rules.  
 
You also refuse to go the other way:  If the character takes no damage from the photosphere of the sun, then what does it take to actually do damage?  The statement that someone can tap dance on the photosphere logically has implications *within the context of the game.*  Because that much heat has a massive damage rating.  A blast furnace is given 6d6 K;  they're listed as maxing out at around 4000 F.  Not even half.  "Safe in extreme heat" just does not cover it by itself.